Instant Poll over at Gamespot.com

[Ralf]

Click on THIS LINK and vote for Civilization III, in a poll at Gamespot.com, that ask "Which of these third installments are you most excited about?".

[tniem]

We need your help! Civ III is currently losing to both WarCraft III (to be expected) and Doom 3 (talk about overkill).

Cast your vote now!

[TechWins]

I casted my vote. Now here's the current results.

Which of these third installments are you most excited about?

Civilization III 919 (13%)
Doom III 1770 (26%)
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind 581 (8%)
Master of Orion III 564 (8%)
Myth III 264 (4%)
Thief III 557 (8%)
Warcraft III 2250 (33%)

We can't let this be happening, cast your vote now!

[Alex 14]

Doom 3, what the hell is that?

[Ralf]

Many of those who voted for Warcraft III and Doom III would never play a game like Civ-III anyway. The important thing is that Civilization III have almost twice as many votes as Master of Orion III. And regardless of what one think about SciFi-style MOO III: that game is definitely not destined to be another CTP-II flopp. So by comparison, the gamespot-visitors foretell Civ III:s upcoming future in a rather promishing light, I think.

Lets see if we can actually double, or go beyond compared with MOO-III.

[TechWins]

Doom 3, what the hell is that?

Doom is like a first person shoot 'em up game. Something like a Quake. I'm not real sure how to explain but that sums up the game pretty much. The Doom series has been around for quite awhile now, it's also has games for game consels not just pc.

[yin26]

I'll vote after I see the official civ3.com site. At this point, MOO3 has my interest.

[Solver]

Yin, stop it . I cast my vote there, but we know you'll like Civ 3. And civ3.com is good.

[Ralf]

Originally posted by yin26
I'll vote after I see the official civ3.com site. At this point, MOO3 has my interest.

Well, thats a free choice, of course. Personally, I have two big problems with SciFi-style edbc-games (edbc= explore, discover, build & conquer), like the MOO-series and SMAC.

1: I cant help feeling distant and unattached when dealing with made-up base/planet-improvements, and rather one-dimensional sci-fi tech-advances. They are often hard to relate to and they feel dry & technical. All the improvements, wonders and techs in a Civ-game (that ends 2020), on the other hand makes sense to both my brain-halves.

Also, Firaxis move to steer-away further from war/production/hard tech-upgrades only, by incorporating concepts like culture (with "soft" techs; like "music theory" and "free artistry", and so on), and adding alternative here-on-earth/ easy-to-relate diplomatic and cultural victory-conditions, feels more inviting to me, then any abstract SciFi-fantasies SMAC and upcoming MOO-III has to offer.

2: Also, I cant help feeling a lack of time-flow in SciFi edbc-games. In a Civ-game old ideas (like the need for despotism & monarchy) gets replaced by more modern rule-platforms (but with risky government-overtrows - you must plan & counteract in advance). Also, comprehensible break-through techs (like monotheism, printing press & railroads) give the player a general feel of development and time-flow. Suddenly, the city-graphics changes with the discovery of "industrialism", and so on. I like that. In Civ-3 I believe, one must discover most ancient techs, before one is allowed to entering the medieval era - and all ancient techs and most medieval techs before one is allowed to enter the third era (and hopefully something happens to mark the occasion each time).

By comparison, SciFi-style edbc-games often feels remarkably "frozen-in-time". Like playing a space-empire scenario-game. Changing SMAC SE-values, in small steps one at the time, was easy and harmless (and therefore unchallenging). Also, one dont get any mental images then building & discovering bloodless & abstract Sci-Fi improvements and techs.
For example: in what way feels "temporal mechanics" (build 14) more advanced, and more of an accomplishment then "industrial economics" (build 2)? Im not ranting particulary at SMAC here - its an general problem with all Sci-Fi stategy building-games, including the upcoming MOO III game.

[Sabre2th]

I'm afraid I'm with ralf on this one.

[korn469]

no matter if i'm in space or the stone age a civ game is all numbers to me, be it the Michalangelo's Cathedral or the Virtual Word, be it Shakespeare's Theatre or a punishment sphere, be it an paratrooper or fusion drop infrantry, the effects on the game are practically the same

the game i'm probably looking forward to most is civ3, but if warcraft3 is any good then that might be my favorite game for a while

civ3's biggest strength lies not in its historical accuracy (which is dubious at best) or in any one of its subsystems but i think it lies in the fact that no matter how many games i play i can quickly overcome being burt out on the game...i stoped playing all civ games for about six months (even when i was posting here) but i have went back and recently played a few games of civ and tons of SMAC

it has been a year since i have played starcraft more than once...and while i was playing diablo2 alot i think it almost gave me carple-tunnel...plus i had the misfortune of letting my most advanced hardcore paladin (he was a sacradin) die with my two great rings, and none of the characters have felt the same since then (btw i play d2 on HC only)

[Footie Mad]

Originally posted by korn469
while i was playing diablo2 alot i think it almost gave me carple-tunnel...plus i had the misfortune of letting my most advanced hardcore paladin (he was a sacradin) die with my two great rings, and none of the characters have felt the same since then (btw i play d2 on HC only)

D2 hardcore is bad for your health! I know of people who have broken their chair/wardrobe/d2 CDs/monitor etc when their HC character died, well I guess if you cant tell the difference between from game and reality you can blame nobody but yourself......

[korn469]

D2 hardcore is bad for your health! I know of people who have broken their chair/wardrobe/d2 CDs/monitor etc when their HC character died, well I guess if you cant tell the difference between from game and reality you can blame nobody but yourself......

the first time i lost a hardcore character (i was level 25 i think and got killed because my internet like to disconnect, and this isn't good when you have a LE monster close by) i was so mad that i hit myself in the head so hard that i almost gave myself a concussion...but after that i calmed down...hardcore is the only way to play D2...death really means something, you actually watch out for pks, and in general the adrenaline level is ten times better than what it is in D2...plus you look at the top of ladder, and instead of being a foregone conclusion, you pray that they will all die

[java4me]

Here are the latest results:

Civilization 3- 1171 (14%)
Doom 3- 2121 (25%)
The Elder Scrolls 3- 702 (8%)
MOO 3- 717 (8%)
Myth 3- 320 (4%)
Thief 3- 677 (8%)
Warcraft 3-2770 (33%)

So right now Warcraft 3 has a third of the votes!

We need all the support we can get!!!!

[Colonâ„¢]

I wonder how much longer before they'll be able to make such a poll with IV and V games.